Does anyone recognize this spider?  It was on my back yard fence last weekend.

Sept. 29, 2009:  I found out that this is a Silver-backed Argiope.

Is it even a spider?  In the photo (from my phone), I can’t distinguish 8 legs.

One spider I found in my front yard is a black widow, I’m pretty sure.  I didn’t handle it. I captured it in a jar and then let it go in some woods.

Cell phone cameras are really handy, but the image quality isn’t so great.

Southern Pines North Carolina spiders

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north carolina spider, southern pines spider

The Southern Pines (North Carolina) Fire Department raised a flag in memory of those who lost their lives in the attacks on 9/11/2001.  I pulled over to take a picture.  The flag hangs on the end of a ladder, which is extended out over Pennsylvania Avenue, near US 1.

Southern Pines NC Fire Department

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9/11, North Carolina, Southern Pines Fire Department

This is a Red Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla magnifica) that was wandering around in the yard.  They’re actually not ants though.  They’re wasps! When I got back in the house, I googled “read and black wingless ant” to find out what she was. What I found out is that they have a painful sting and are pretty tough creatures.  They’re also known as “Cow Killers.”  They’re not actually capable of killing cows though, so no need for dairy farmers to be hyper-vigilant.

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back yard, cow killer, Dasymutilla magnifica, insect, North Carolina, Red Velvet Ant, Southern Pines

UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill

This has been a busy week.  On Thursday, I took a friend to UNC in Chapel Hill for surgery and spent most of the day there. UNC is an impressive facility.  I used to spend a lot of time at UNC when that was my home base for treatment.  It’s not a terrible place to have to spend several hours.  On Friday, I was able to go back to pick her up to take her home.

This week I’ve been feeding some feral cats for someone who’s on vacation.  There are three small colonies in Southern Pines that rely on this person for daily food and water. Some have been trapped, spayed or neutered and released.  Tomorrow is my last day for doing that, I think.

I have a friend’s yard to mow this weekend.  I should be doing it now, before it gets too hot.  I have to do my own, too!

On top of that, I’m watching someone’s dog while their family takes a short trip before school starts. He’s an old timer, so he’s no extra bother.  He gets along well with my dog and the cats. He’s jumped into the pool before, so he does have to be supervised when he’s out in the yard.

On Tuesday, we went to the National Night Out Against Crime event at Memorial Park in Southern Pines.  Jacob had a lot of fun watching the canine unit demonstration.  I have some pictures of that I can post later.

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